Abstract
A new method (thermal spokes) has been proposed to simulate the guide roll effect in FE analysis of the ring rolling process. The method is simple to use with existing FE formulations, does not introduce further nonlinearities, and results in more stable and faster solution to ring rolling simulations. The method has been successfully employed in a 2D FE simulation of rolling flat rings. A special feature of the method is its ability to take into account the stiffness of the adjustment mechanism of the guide rolls. On the other hand, a simple modification has been introduced on the lever arm principle, which might be used to estimate guide roll forces in elementary analysis. Incorporating the thermal spokes method in the ring rolling simulation showed important effects of the guide rolls on the ring–tool contact region, roll force and drive torque. Finite element results are in good agreement with experimental results and confirm the validity of the thermal spokes approach as well as the proposed modified lever arm principle.